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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25627240">To Let Go, Or Not To Let Go (That Is The Question)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/imissmycatsface/pseuds/imissmycatsface'>imissmycatsface</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In The Night [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Astrid Didn't Sharpen Her Axe, Gen, THAT BEING SAID, and she's had about the same amount of time in this to think about what she's going to do, astrid is not unreasonable ok, i'm not good at dragging out stories, p.s. sorry if it's too fast, please enjoy!!, please remember that in canon it took less than a DAY for astrid to change her mind about dragons, she is NOT ooc in this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:48:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,938</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25627240</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/imissmycatsface/pseuds/imissmycatsface</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Toothless landed softly in front of the dragon arena, and Hiccup slid off his back.</p><p>He signaled for Toothless to move into position and then, as quietly as he could, opened the first gate to the dragon arena, torch in hand and no weapons on his person whatsoever. Toothless would protect him if anything went sideways.</p><p>Carefully, Hiccup lowered the gate down behind him. “So far, so good, bud,” he called out quietly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III &amp; Astrid Hofferson, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III &amp; Toothless</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>In The Night [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>141</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Let Go, Or Not To Let Go (That Is The Question)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hiccup and Toothless had discussed what they were going to do at the Terrible Island (well, no, Hiccup had bounced ideas off of Toothless and Toothless occasionally bopped Hiccup’s head if the idea seemed too stupid.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The plan they had agreed on was for Hiccup to open all the cages with the main arena door shut. Toothless would stay outside the arena, but would stay close enough that he could shoot a plasma blast if necessary, as well as to.. Translate was the best word, Hiccup supposed. (Though that led to a different train of thought entirely: Did different dragons have different languages? What if- </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, off-topic, bad Hiccup, he could think about this when they had finished.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Whether or not the other dragons agreed to join Hiccup and Toothless, they would be set free, so long as they didn’t bother the village after getting out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before heading to the arena, however, Hiccup had had Toothless drop him off at his house, so he could pack anything he needed and say one last good night to his dad before…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Before</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even his emotionally stunted father had noticed Hiccup’s solemn mood during that interaction, but thankfully he left him alone about it, and only cheerfully wished Hiccup a good night’s sleep before heading out on watch duty instead of coming upstairs to talk to him about it. Hiccup didn’t want to know what dad’s reaction would have been if he’d seen Hiccup hurriedly packing </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally </span>
  </em>
  <span>everything he owned (of course, that wasn’t much,) from his pencils to his papers to his blanket to the few smithing tools Gobber hadn’t called him out on taking home…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Truthfully, Hiccup didn’t know if he would have had the courage to go inside and face his dad knowing what was set to occur during the night if he hadn’t known that Toothless was waiting for him just meters above, curled up on the roof to avoid being spotted by the regular patrols. As soon as Hiccup had finished gathering everything he could, he hurried outside through the back door and whistled to let Toothless know to come down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he’d tied everything to Toothless, they had set off again. This time, towards the dragon arena.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Toothless landed softly in front of the dragon arena, and Hiccup slid off his back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He signalled for Toothless to move into position and then, as quietly as he could, opened the first gate to the dragon arena, torch in hand and no weapons on his person whatsoever. Toothless would protect him if anything went sideways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Carefully, Hiccup lowered the gate down behind him. “So far, so good, bud,” he called out quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Toothless rumbled back a low warning, and Hiccup paused for a second. His forehead creased in concern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you having second thoughts or something?” Hiccup scratched his cheek in confusion, staring absently at the closed gate in front of him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Once you go through the other gate, you won’t be able to turn back</span>
  </em>
  <span>, whispered a voice in his head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You’ll really be a traitor once you do this.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It sounded, for some reason, a little like Astrid. Maybe he was a bit too obsessed with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Whatever. He and Toothless had agreed; It wouldn’t be fair for them to escape while the other dragons never got the chance. This was the right thing to do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turned around, steeling himself–</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>–and found himself face-to-face with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrifyingly</span>
  </em>
  <span> real Astrid.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup squealed and threw himself backwards, narrowly avoiding braining himself on the gate. Astrid’s unimpressed eyes followed his every move. Her arms were crossed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“</span><em><span>Astrid!!</span></em><span>” He said (loudly, in an embarrassingly high pitch). “What –</span> <span>uh, what are </span><em><span>you </span></em><span>doing out this fine night? A, wow, what a.. What a c-coincidence to see you here as well!” He tried to subtly wipe his suddenly sweaty hands on his shirt.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow, Astrid’s gaze became even more unimpressed. He fidgeted under her glare, waiting for her to say something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From above, Toothless grunted a quiet [</span>
  <b>Told you</b>
  <span>], his tone unhappily smug about being right. Astrid shifted her weight to her other side, but otherwise didn’t react.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She kept her eyes trained on Hiccup when she finally spoke. “The first thing you do after shooting down the Night Fury is make it your pet?” Her voice was (terrifyingly) neutral, but Hiccup could still hear the ‘what an idiot’ at the end.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup swallowed; the implications of that sentence were too many to count. (He held back the reflexive “Toothless is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pet</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” that threatened to burst out of his throat.) He tried to think of something else to say, but all he could get out was, “Night Fury?” His voice came out hoarse, little more than a whisper. Astrid rolled her eyes in disgust.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you know, your ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>bud’</span>
  </em>
  <span>? The one up there?” She uncrossed her arms to point through the second gate towards the edge of the arena, where Hiccup could faintly see Toothless’ eyes gleaming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For someone who thinks there’s a Night Fury outside the arena, you’re awfully calm,” he said, and crossed his own arms to try to seem more confident. He was proud his voice hadn’t cracked in the middle of his sentence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> spend so much time around it without it killing you, I think I’ll be able to handle it fine if I need to. The question is, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hiccup</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” her eyes narrowed dangerously at him, “will I need to?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup managed to choke out a “What?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid stared at him impatiently. She put her hands on her hips. “Well?” she asked, tapping her foot. “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>your plan?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Plan?” Hiccup repeated after her, mind both blank and running in circles. Everything that had happened in the last minute had been completely unprecedented. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why is she asking questions instead of killing me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid exploded. “Yes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hiccup</span>
  </em>
  <span>, your plan!” She snarled, throwing her hands into the air. Toothless growled a warning from the other side of the arena. She ignored him, and instead started gesturing wildly. “For Odin’s sake! You obviously have a plan, if you’re sneaking into the </span>
  <em>
    <span>dragon</span>
  </em>
  <span> arena with your </span>
  <em>
    <span>dragon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, the night before you have to kill a </span>
  <em>
    <span>dragon</span>
  </em>
  <span> here!! So what </span>
  <em>
    <span>is it</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” She hissed out the last words. Hiccup noticed that she had backed him into the wall during her little rant, and was now inches away from his face, breathing heavily. He could see the dangerous glitter in her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you going to free the dragons in here so they can attack the village when it’s at its least prepared?” She spoke softly, but it did little to soften the question itself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup finally found his voice. “No! I would never-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid shoved her finger into his chest, leaning in even closer to him. “Then tell me what the Thor-forsaken plan </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Hiccup, so I can decide whether to let you and your pet dragon go or report you to the chief for treason.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup was so panicked that her words only sunk in after a few seconds. He stilled. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wait…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let us go?” His voice squeaked a bit in disbelief. “You’d do that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know yet, Hiccup,” she said in frustration. She backed away from him a bit, and she stared at her. “If your plan includes getting the village torched by a horde of dragons that </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> let out, then absolutely not. If that’s the case, I won’t hesitate to kill you where you stand-” her sentence was cut off by a snarl coming from right next to them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both she and Hiccup looked to see Toothless pressing his face through the gate as far as it would go, baring his teeth at Astrid. The faintest glow of a building plasma blast was in his throat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid snarled back, an almost inhuman sound escaping her mouth. Before the glow could get any brighter in Toothless’s throat, Hiccup moved in front of Astrid, arms spread wide. “No! No, Toothless! You don’t have to threaten her, bud! Everything’s fine. I can handle this.” He looked steadily at Toothless, trying to calm him down. “It’s fine, bud,” he said in a quieter voice, lowering his arms. “I’ve got this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Toothless stared at Hiccup, clearly not believing him. But with a roll of his eyes and a final growl at Astrid, he removed his head from the gate and moved out of sight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he was gone, Hiccup turned back to Astrid, only to pause at the sight of her already staring at him. There was something strange in her expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were both quiet for a few seconds, until she said quietly, “You really believe you can understand each other.” Her brows were furrowed, but he didn’t know what she was thinking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can’t you understand him? He’s pretty expressive.” Hiccup shrugged. “... Sometimes it’s easier to understand him than anyone in the village,” he added quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid stayed quiet at his confession, but her eyebrows scrunched even more. Her eyes were fixed on the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something in her posture hade Hiccup keep going. “We weren’t going to do anything dangerous to the village. Toothless and I would have left before tomorrow anyway. We just thought we’d ask the dragons in here if they wanted to join us.” His voice was steadier than it had been their entire conversation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid breathed in. Out. In. Out. In-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay.” It was so quiet Hiccup almost didn’t hear it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay?” he said, equally quiet. If he said it louder, the illusion would break, she would realise what she was doing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” she affirmed, nodding her head. She drew her shoulders back stiffly. I’ll let you and your pet dragon ask them if they want to go with you, and tomorrow when your dad interrogates everyone about where you could have gone, I won’t say anything about you and your little Night Fury pal.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked Hiccup in the eye. “Make no mistake, I’m doing this for myself and the village. If you break your word and the village is attacked, I will make everyone realise you were the reason, and if I ever see you again after that, it will be the last time </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> sees you.” After a second of silence she held out her hand for him to shake. “Deal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup looked at her hand, not entirely believing this wasn’t wishful thinking. He took her hand and said “Deal,” with numb lips. They shook hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Astrid seemed to shake herself then, and let go of his hand. She walked over to the outside gate and started to open it, but paused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seconds passed before she shook her head and resumed opening the gate. Just as she slipped through it, she looked back at Hiccup with that strange look on her face again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised her hand in a half-wave, and said, “Bye, Hiccup,” in the quiet voice she had been using for most of their fantastical, bizarre conversation. Then she turned and walked away. She didn’t look back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hiccup watched her go until she was gone, and kept looking for a while longer. Only Toothless’s grumbled [</span>
  <b>Hurry up!</b>
  <span>] snapped him out of his daze, and he realised the sun was closer to rising than they had planned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shaking his head slowly, Hiccup moved past the second gate to the cages to do what they had come here to do. “What just happened, bud?” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Toothless had nothing to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Astrid woke to a quiet morning, as the only person in the village who knew what had happened to both the Chief’s son and the dragons in the arena.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There had been no dragon attacks that night.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Commentor DixieJoy said they'd be interested in reading more, and I was like 'hhhhhhhmygod someone wants to read more of my writing' so, uh, I got inspired and wrote this! I quite like Astrid being portrayed as being able to think pragmatically. She's doing this for herself (or so she says, at least.) That being said, uhh.. hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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